The All-Russian scientific-practical conference focused upon the "integration of science and sports practice in the martial arts".

Among the speakers at the event was a representative of the Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism (RGUFKSMiT), Lomakina Helena.

She delivered a presentation on "Current trends to improve the system of physical training of students of educational institutions", using sambo as an example.

The conference predominantly consisted of presentations from young scientists, who attempted to explore aspects of martial arts which have not previously been subjected to scrutiny.

It was dedicated to the memory of Soviet-era sambo instructor, Yevgeny Mikhailovich Chumakov.

"His main activity was training in high schools; teachers, functionaries and coaches,” International Sambo Federation (FIAS) executive director Sergey Tabakov said. 

"Therefore, the main idea of the conference is the training of the teaching staff and the opportunity to share their achievements.

"This is the path that we have to go down."

Also speaking at the conference was historian Alexei Gorbyleva, who gave participants information on the teaching of sambo’s founding father Vasili Oshchepkov at the Kodokan Judo Institute in Tokyo.

A special concert took place in Moscow last month in honour of Oshchepkov, who was born into a family of exiles in 1893 and played a key role in introducing judo into the Soviet Union.

An intelligence officer during both Tsarist and Soviet periods, he was educated in Japan and later returned there to work in the 1920s.

He studied at the Kodokan Judo Institute, founded by Jigoro Kano, eventually becoming the first Russian to receive a second dan in the sport.